Saving Washington's Portrait
by angellwings
Summary: Dolley Madison once saved many of the White House's dearest treasures, and now her namesake, Dolley Madison Gates, may have to do the same when her brother finally pieces together the secrets of the Templar Treasure. Movie Companion. BenAbby. RileyOC.
1. Chapter 1

**Saving Washington's Portrait**

**Chapter One**

_"When I shall again write to you, or where I shall be tomorrow, I cannot tell."-Dolley Madison_

Dolley Madison Gates sighed irritably as her father ranted on and on about her brother. She tucked a piece of her deep chestnut colored hair behind her left ear, and then rubbed her left hand across her brow. Her hazel eyes were beginning to glass over.

"The most irresponsible, hard headed…"

"Dad, let Ben be. He hasn't done anything illegal-"

"Yet. He hasn't done anything illegal YET."

She groaned, "Daaaad."

"What's he doing going all the way across the world anyway? Is he still looking for that treasure?"

"You know he is, daddy."

"Well, I'm glad at least ONE of my children has more sense than to go chasing after that myth."

"Um…dad?"

"At least you're doing something worthwhile with your life. Ben is just wasting away."

"Dad, I'm going with him." She told him nervously.

"You're WHAT?" He cried in outrage, "No you are not, young lady. You certainly are not."

"I most certainly am," She said with a sigh, "I'm 25 years old, not 15, dad."

"What does he need with an architectural historian anyway?" Her father grumbled.

"I don't know, really. He just asked me to come along and I agreed, but its Ben you know he's got a reason."

"Fine, Dolley, you and your brother are going to get yourselves killed, but fine. Just fine," He muttered angrily.

"It's nice to have your support, daddy," She said sarcastically, "I'll call you when we get back."

"Yes, fine, alright. No one ever listens to me," He said as he hung up.

She chuckled and shut her flip phone before turning to Riley and Ben, "I'm in."

"YES! Thank you! A normal person!" Riley yelled as he rushed her with a hug.

She laughed, "Why, Riley, I didn't know you cared so much."

"I-I-I don't," He said as he let go and straightened himself up, "I don't"

"Go pack, Dolley, we'll wait," Her brother said with a smirk in the younger man's direction.

* * *

"Okay, guys, so I've got everything I think I'll need. You said your guys are supplying us with cold weather gear, right?" She asked her brother and her best friend cautiously after a couple of hours of packing.

"Yes, everything else is ready, can we go now?" Ben asked impatiently.

"Hey! Don't give me that. You're the one that asked me to come and you're also the one who said you wait until I packed. So CHILL, big brother."

Riley grinned in amusement at the older man's expression, "Ha Ha, you were just told off by your little sister."

Ben gave him a withering unimpressed look, and Riley gave him a sheepish one in return.

Dolley shoved her massive duffel bag into Riley's arms, "Carry my bag for me? Of course you will."

Ben chuckled at his little sister, and motioned for Riley and Dolley's super sized duffle bag to exit before him.

"Thanks," Riley said sarcastically as they left.

* * *

"I was thinking about Henson and Perry crossing this kind of terrain with nothing but dog sleds and on foot, can you imagine?" Ben asked the man in the seat next to him as they drove through and across the Arctic Circle.

Dolley smiled at her brother almost in disbelief. Some of the things he said sometimes made her wonder if he was really only seven years older than her.

"It's extroidinary," The man she only knew as Ian said.

"Are we there yet?" She asked Riley as they hit a rather large snow bank and her head collided with the ceiling of the vehicle for the millionth time. Luckily the overstuffed and extremely quilted hood on her peach colored jacket cushioned her skull and prevented too much damage.

"Assuming Ben's theory is correct and my tracking model is accurate we should be getting very close. Don't go by me I broke a shoe lace this morning," He replied.

Three heads turned to look at him quizzically.

"It's-It's a bad omen," He said in an attempt to justify himself.

"Shall we turn around and go home?" Ian asked sarcastically.

"Or we could pull over and just throw him out here," Ben added.

"Oh no, we can't do that," Dolley protested, "Who would carry my bags?"

The three of them had a good chuckle before Riley piped up again.

"Ha ha ha, okay," He dead panned.

"Riley you're not missing that little windowless cubicle we found you in are you?" Her brother asked cheekily.

"No no, absolutely not," Her friend responded.

Suddenly Riley's computer began beeping, and Ben stopped the massive all-terrain vehicle. They all exited the vehicles and Dolley accompanied her brother as they fanned out with metal detectors. A few minutes into the search Ben's started going crazy, and the two of them began picking away at the snow until Ben's pick hit metal.

"I got it," Dolley said as she pulled out her water bottle just as Ben was reaching for his. She quickly opened the nozzle and poured water in top of the snow cover portion of the bell they uncovered. Her jaw dropped at the sight of the name "Charlotte" on the bell, "Oh my god"

"Hello beautiful," Her brother said thankfully as he ran a gloved hand over the bell.

"Ian! Riley! Over here! We need to start moving the snow!" Dolley yelled as she jumped up and ran for the others with a permanent smile fixed on her face, and the infamous clue (_"The secret lies with Charlotte")_ running constantly through her mind. Ben finally found it. He found The Charlotte.

* * *

_That's all for chapter one. I know there are like a million Original Character movie companion stories out there, but it seems my imagination wouldn't stop until I wrote my own. I'm hoping Dolley will be a believable OC. I try to avoid writing Mary Sues if at all possible. I'm wondering if I should explain the title, but I think I'll just point yall in the right direction. Look up Dolley Madison on Wikipedia, and read the section called "First ladyship". After you read that I think it will all become clear._

_Feel free to let me know what you think..._

_angellwings_


	2. Chapter 2

**Saving Washington's Portrait**

**Chapter Two**

_"Disaffection stalks around us."-Dolley Madison_

"Oh my God, Ben, are you seeing this? This is phenomenal. It's almost perfectly preserved. Look at the craftsmanship. That figurehead is so beautiful. Oh, I would love to have the task of restoring that to it's original condition or even making a replica of it," She rambled happily as they descended to the stairs to the sailors' bunks.

"Why do you think I brought you along, little sister? I knew you'd have a fit if you found out the Charlotte was a ship and I DIDN'T bring you," He told her with a chuckle as they all spread out and examined the room.

"I love ships, have I told you this? I'm sure I have," She said sarcastically before a gasp escaped her lips, "Look at these hammocks! This is a very important discovery. The Smithsonian would LOVE to get their hands on this."

"They would?" Ian asked curiously.

"Oh, yes. This would warrant a lot of attention," She answered with Child like wide eyes as she scanned the room.

"She should know, she works for them," Riley said as he made his way toward a set of hammocks.

"I didn't know that," Ian said in an impressed tone, "Ben didn't tell me."

"Yes, I help recreate architecture for their early American exhibits," She said with a smile.

Not two seconds later Riley was screaming and tripping all over himself. Dolley squinted and bent down to peer through the other side of the row. She grinned at Riley when she saw the corpse that had startled him. He quickly stood and looked at Ben who stood in front of him.

"You handled that well," Her brother said in an amused tone. Ben then turned and immediately noticed a door. He approached it quickly, "This is it. It's a cargo hold."

They opened the doors and expected to see a room full of gold, but what they got was a room full of cannons and barrels.

"You think it's in the barrels?" Riley suggested.

"I highly doubt that. A ship from this era would more than likely be carrying gun powder in barrels like that," Dolley said as she turned her head and noticed the cannons. She stepped closer to examine them.

Ian opened one barrel and examined it's contents, "Dolley's right. Gun powder."

"Mmhmm, and I'm not even going to say I told you so," She announced with a smile, but did not look away from the cannon. She crouched down to examine it closer. A few seconds later she heard her brother call out that he found something. They all rushed over to him.

He was holding pipe. Not just any pipe, a meerschaum pipe. Dolley grinned at the sight.

"Do you guys know what this is?" Ben asked them in a hinting manner.

"Is it a billion dollar pipe?" Riley asked hopefully.

Ian smiled, "It's a meerschaum pipe. Ah, that's beautiful."

"Look at the intricacy of the scrollwork on the stem," Her brother pointed out.

"Is it a million dollar pipe?" Riley asked again.

"No, it's a clue, right, Ben?" Dolley asked as she bit on her bottom lip excitedly.

He smiled at her and nodded before taking the pipe from Ian, "Let me see that."

He pulled off the stem and Riley immediately said something, "No, don't break it."

"We are one step closer to the treasure, gentlemen," He announced before nodding to his sister, "And lady."

She smiled and nodded in return.

"Ben I thought you said the treasure would be on the Charlotte?" Ian asked with an uneasy tone.

"No, "The secret lies with Charlotte." I said it _could_ be here," Ben said as he pulled out his knife and stuck his thumb with it. Dolley winced as he did so. She knew what he was going to do, but it was still a little gross. Dolley eagerly peered over his should as he rolled the stem over a piece of paper.

"Templar symbols," She whispered in excitement.

"The legend writ, the stain effected, the key in Silence undetected, Fifty-five in iron pen, Mr. Matlack can't offend….It's a riddle. I need to think." Her brother said before he wandered off to ramble to himself. She listened as he came up with an invisible map.

"Albuquerque. See I can do it too. Snorkel." Riley said as they all began to join in the discussion and one of Ian's lunkheads tried to help. Dolley chuckled at her long time friend and former roommate.

"That's where the map is. Like he said, "Fifty-five in iron pen" "Iron pen" is a prison," The man continued. She hadn't quite caught his name yet, but she knew he was wrong in his guess.

She smiled softly at him, "Sorry dude, it probably has to do with the ink that was available to them at the time. Iron gall ink is what they wrote in back then."

"So, that would mean the pen is…just a pen. But then why not say a pen? Why…why say iron pen?" Ben asked aloud.

"Because it's a prison," The unknown man mumbled under his breath.

"Wait a minute. "Iron pen"," Ben said before he turned and approached Dolley, "the "iron" does not describe the ink in the pen, it describes _what_ was penned. It was "iron"-It was firm. It was mineral. No-no no no, wait a minute that's stupid

She nodded with wide eyes as she realized where he was headed, "Keep going with firm. It was adamant, it was…"

"Resolved," He finally said before he paused again, "It was resolved. "Mr. Matlack can't offend." Timothy Matlack was the official scribe of the Continental Congress. Calligrapher, not writer. And to make sure he could not offend the map, it was put on the back of a resolution that he transcribed, a resolution that 55 men signed."

Dolley gasped when she realized what her brother was saying, "No, not the-"

"The Declaration of Independence," He interrupted.

"Come on, there's no invisible map on the back of the Declaration of Independence," Riley scoffed.

"That's clever, really. A document of that importance would ensure the map's survival," Ian said in an impressed tone.

"Not to mention it was signed by several Masons," Dolley said as she shook her head in awe.

"Nine for sure," Her brother added in a distracted manner.

"We'll have to arrange a way to examine it." Ian said simply.

Dolley stared at him like he had gone mental, "This is one of the most important documents in history! They won't just-"

Ben held up a hand to stop her, and gave her a warning look to watch her tone. She sighed and silenced herself.

"There's no way we will be allowed to perform chemical tests on such a revered document." Ben told Ian as calmly as possible. This was a big set back.

"Then what do you propose we do?" He asked.

"I don't know!" Ben said in a raised voice.

"We could borrow it," Ian suggested softly.

Dolley's eyes widened and she raised them to meet Riley's before turning back to her older brother.

"Steal it?" He asked.

Ian didn't respond. Dolley was too shocked to make a remark. _Steal _the Declaration of Independence?

"I don't think so." Her brother responded firmly.

"Ben…the Treasure of the Knights Templar is the treasure of all treasures," Ian said as he began to try and reason with Ben.

"Oh, I didn't know that. Really?" Ben said with bitter sarcasm. Dolley merely shook her head. Ian was INSANE.

"Look Ben…I understand your bitterness, I really do. You've spent your entire life searching for this treasure only to have the respected historical community treat you and your family with mockery and contempt," He risked a glance over at Dolley after saying that as well, "You two should be able to rub this treasure in their arrogant faces, and I want you to have a chance to do that."

Dolley bit her bottom lip before finally asking, "How?"

"We all have our areas of expertise. You don't think mine are limited to writing checks do you?" He asked both of them with a light chuckle, "In another life…I arranged a number of operations of…questionable legality."

Lunkhead took a step toward them, "I'd take his word for it if I were you."

"So don't worry. I'll make all the arrangements." Ian said casually.

Ben looked at Dolley in disbelief, "No."

"I'd really need your help here." Ian said as Ben grabbed Dolley's arm and then two of them backed away from Ian and Lunkhead slowly.

"Ian…I'm not gonna let you steal the Declaration of Independence," Ben answered with determination.

"OK. From this point on all you're going to be is a hindrance." Ian said as Lunkhead pulled out a gun. Dolley gulped deeply, and she heard Riley let out a protest.

"What are you gonna do? Are you gonna shoot me, Shaw?" Ben asked, and Dolley's eyes widened. Shaw so that was what Lunkhead was called. _Is it bad that I kind of like Lunkhead better?_ She asked herself in amusement, "Well, you can't shoot me. There's more to the riddle."

Dolley squinted as she thought about that, and then her eyes widened as she remember the riddle. There _was_ more. How the heck did she miss that? Damn, Ben was a genius.

"Information you don't have. I do. I'm the only one who can figure it out, and you know that." Ben said in a voice that was too calm for the situation.

"He's bluffing," Lunkhead Shaw said to Ian.

"We played poker together, Ian. You know I can't bluff," Ben said with a small chuckle.

Ian smirked and motioned to Dolley, "I bet she could. She seems to know quite a bit about all of this."

Ben looked to Dolley and then back at Ian, "Leave her out of this."

"Tell me what I need to know, Ben, and I will," Ian demanded.

"You've got to be kidding me. Don't tell these criminals anything," Dolley said with a glare in their direction. Ben suddenly lit a flare, and Ian and Lunkhead Shaw's attention was back on Ben.

"Look where you're standing. All that gunpowder. You shoot me, I drop this, we all go up." Ben threatened.

"Ben…" Riley called out with worry.

"What happens when the flare burns down? Tell me what I need to know, Ben." Ian said in a sinister manner.

"You need to know…If Shaw can catch." Ben said as he threw the flare. There was a second where She, Ben, and Riley all waited to blow up, but when Dolley opened her eyes she realized Ian had caught the flare.

He smiled, and waved the flare at them, "Nice try, though."

Dolley's eyes widened as they watched his glove catch on fire and then his sleeve which caused him to drop the flare. Ben grabbed her and they ducked behind some barrels as Lunkhead shot at them. She heard Ian yell and saw them run for the exit and shut the cargo bay door.

As soon as the door was closed Ben began stomping around, and she noticed he hit a hollow spot.

"Riley, get over here!" Ben yelled as he jerked Dolley up onto her feet and opened a hatch.

Dolley's eyes widened, "A smuggler's hold! Why didn't I think of that?"

"Get in!" Ben yelled to Dolley and Riley. They immediately began to climb down. They followed Ben through a series of chambers before reaching a small room with a door. He practically threw them both inside and quickly slammed the door just before the explosion. They coughed and sputtered their way out of the wreckage, and Dolley immediately felt a sense of sadness.

"Oh for CRYING OUT LOUD! We just HAD to blow up the brilliantly crafted ship, didn't we? One of the greatest finds in a LONG TIME, and we're the only ones who got to see it before it exploded. Damn, why didn't I at least bring a camera?" Dolley cursed as she stood up from the smoking pile of wood and snow.

"There's an Inuit village about nine miles east of here," Her brother said as he ignored her fit, "It's popular with bush pilots."

Dolley growled, "It was just such a pretty ship, and now NO ONE will know. Stupid Ian and Lunkhead man!"

"What are we gonna do?" Riley asked them both.

"We go home," Ben answered simply.

"No, I mean about Ian. He's gonna steal the Declaration of Independence, Ben." Riley said with a strange sense if finality.

"We stop him," Her brother answered as if it were no big deal.

"Yeah, okay, I get that, but, um…how?" Riley asked helplessly.

* * *

_And that's chapter two. Not much different from the movie, but this is only the beginning._


	3. Chapter 3

**Saving Washington's Portrait**

**Chapter Three**

_"It is one of my sources of happiness never to desire a knowledge of other people's business." -Dolley Madison_

They had made it back to the states safe and sound and most importantly undetected. Ian still thought they were all dead. Ben and Riley were at her apartment for dinner. She listened to them chatting as she continued to rip lettuce.

"Tomorrow morning we're going to as many federal agencies as we can," Ben told Riley with determination.

"What time does all of this start in the morning?" Dolley asked as she set aside the bowl with the lettuce and pulled out a couple of tomatoes.

"Oh no, you're not coming," Ben announced, "After what happened in the Arctic I can't risk it."

"What?" She snapped as she turned around with her chopping knife in hand.

"Ben, she's got knife," Riley mumbled cautiously. She glared at Riley and Ben.

"You are not leaving me out of this. Not now," She growled, "I'm coming and that's the end of it."

She turned and continued to chop tomatoes.

"No, you're not," Ben repeated as he stood and walked toward the kitchen.

"You sound like dad," she huffed, "So I'll tell you what I told him. I'm 25 not 15 and I'm going."

"If anyone is going to get hurt it's going to me not you. So you're not going," Ben huffed before turning to Riley, "A little help here?"

"Um…" Riley said as he glanced back and forth between patented Gates family glares, "I plead the fifth?"

Ben sighed and his shoulders sagged at the lack of support, "Fine, fine. We'll be by to pick you up at eight o'clock."

"Good, now will someone please tell me why I'm chopping tomatoes to begin with? They're gross." She said in disgust as she wiped a tomato seed and some of its softer insides on Ben's shoulder.

He rolled his eyes and grabbed a paper towel to clean off his shirt, "Thanks, Dolley."

"Not every one finds tomatoes revolting," Riley piped up defensively as he joined them in the kitchen.

"I know that, but I'm not one of that particular every one so why am **I** chopping them? You're the one that likes them so much. You chop them," She said as she handed Riley the knife and then pulled the taco shells out of the toaster oven. She opened the refrigerator and handed Ben a block of cheddar cheese and a cheese grater, "And you can grate the cheese."

"How did we end up having dinner here anyway?" Ben asked.

"Someone has to make sure you two eat. If I left you to your own you would probably be so wrapped up in Operation: Stop Ian that you would forget to have any type of food whatsoever either that or you would just be too lazy to fix it," Dolley said as she walked over to the living room and took the seat Riley had just vacated.

"How did you do that?" Riley asked her in awe.

"Do what?" She asked innocently.

"Get us to do all the work? I didn't even notice that's what you were doing until now. Damn, you are sneaky," Riley said with a shake of his head as he reached for another tomato. He turned to Ben, "did you teach her that?"

"No, that was all mom. Definitely all mom," Ben said with a small grin at his little sister.

* * *

Dolley's alarm clock went off at 6 AM the next morning. She showered, dressed, accessorized and put on make-up with ten minutes to spare. She waited patiently for the buzz over the intercom from the door man down stairs, but none ever came. She waited thirty minutes past the time Ben had told her before grabbing her own keys and running out the door. She knew exactly what had happened.

Ben ditched her.

She growled and dialed Riley's number as she reached her car.

"Hey," he whispered into the phone.

"Where the hell are you guys? And did you really have to DITCH me?" She asked agitatedly.

"Homeland Security, talking to an agent, gotta go," He whispered hurriedly before hanging up. She glared at the phone as the line went dead. She threw the phone into the passenger seat and climbed in to head for the capital.

She slammed down on the accelerator and glared at the road in front of her, "You can't lose me that easy, Benjamin Franklin Gates."

She parked her car and waited anxiously outside the Homeland Security offices for her brother and Riley to exit. She glared at Ben as he walked toward her with Riley lagging behind. She poked his chest repeatedly as he stopped in front of her, "YOU DITCHED ME! That may have worked for you when we were younger, but I have a license now, buddy! Include me or I WILL stalk you."

"It's true," Riley said with a nod, "I tried to ditch her first semester of college…she just followed me everywhere."

She grinned proudly at Riley and then turned to her brother, "I'm scrappy like that."

Ben sighed painfully, "Fine! But you follow my lead and do as I ask, got it?"

"Yes, dad," Dolley said as she rolled her eyes.

Riley smiled affectionately at the act and suppressed a snicker.

"So, how did it go?" Dolley asked curiously.

"We told them someone was going to steal a highly protected document…how do you think it went?" Riley asked in a sarcastic tone.

She groaned forlornly, "They didn't believe you did they?"

"Not a single word," Ben told her frustratedly.

"So where to now?" Dolley asked them.

"Starbucks"

"FBI"

Ben and Riley responded to her question simultaneously. Riley pouted as they immediately headed in the opposite direction of a Starbucks. After finally reaching the FBI building they had to wait another whole hour before an agent could meet with them. The trio was finally escorted into an office by a chubby, balding, almost retired agent.

"What is the emergency, _Mr. Gates_?" The agent almost laughed as he said the name.

Dolley glared and the man and opened her mouth to speak but Riley elbowed her in the side.

"Ow! _Riley!_" Dolley snapped with another glare at her best friend.

"Someone is going to try and steal the Declaration of Independence," Her brother told the agent plainly.

The agent stared wide eyed at the group, "Why? Oh let me guess…it has something to do with that Templar Treasure conspiracy right?"

"It's not a conspiracy!" Dolley snapped at the agent in a condescending tone.

He scoffed, "Sure, it's not."

Dolley rolled her eyes, "He's not going to listen to us Ben. This is absolutely pointless."

"Dolley go outside and take a break," Ben insisted.

"What?" She asked him in disbelief.

"Go outside, get a little water and calm down," He clarified.

"Fine," She pouted as she left the office and slammed the door behind her.

"That's a high strung young woman," The agent said snidely.

"Not high strung just passionate," Ben told him defensively.

* * *

Dolley paced and paced and paced and for a small change in the routine…she paced. She was waiting outside the office to find out whether this moronic agent would believe them, and of course he didn't. She watched anxiously as Ben exited the office shaking his head while Riley simply looked disappointed.

"Hey," Riley greeted her softly.

"Well?" She asked impatiently.

"They're not even going to file a report," Riley said with a roll of his eyes.

"Stupid, ignorant, as-"

"Man, Dolley you are in some kind of mood today," Riley interrupted.

"I am not!" She responded.

"Are too"

"Am not"

"Are too"

"Am not."

"Are too!"

"AM NOT!" She said insistently, "Geez, Riley what are you five years old?"

"At least I'm not in a mood," He responded.

"I am NOT in a mood," She declared loudly as they approached Ben.

"Liar"

"Fine, yes, I'm in a mood. I'm in a mood because my brother and my best friend tried to ditch me this morning and my family was just mocked by an FBI agent," She said loudly with a glare at both men.

"Hey! For the record he ditched you. I had no say in the matter," Riley said urgently.

"True, very true," Dolley admitted.

* * *

_Sorry it's been so long since I updated. I hope you guys have enjoyed this chapter. I had fun writing it._

_Enjoy guys!!_


	4. Chapter 4

**Saving Washington's Portrait**

**Chapter Four**

_"And now, dear sister, I must leave this house or the retreating army will make me a prisoner in it by filling up the road I am directed to take."-Dolley Madison_

"Anyone that can do anything is gonna think that we're crazy. Anyone crazy enough to believe us isn't gonna want to help," Riley argued as they discussed what to do next.

"We don't need someone crazy. But one step short of crazy, what do you get?" Ben asked them confidently.

"Obsessed," Riley and Dolley answered simultaneously.

Ben glanced at his sister out of the corner of his eye, "Passionate."

"Okay…so what does that mean?" Dolley asked her older brother in confusion.

"It means we should go straight to the source," Ben answered as they headed toward the National Archives building.

"The person in charge of preserving the document, you mean?" She asked thoughtfully.

"Exactly," He said with a nod, "She might be our last chance at stopping Ian."

"I'm sorry but your use of the word 'might' scares me," Riley said as he shook his head.

Dolley sighed, "You guys better handle this one on your own."

"Why?" Ben and Riley asked.

"Well…Abigail Chase and I don't exactly get along," Dolley answered.

"Wait, you know the person in charge of the declaration?" Riley asked in shock.

"We do happen to run in the same circles. The National Archives and the Smithsonian try to occasionally collaborate," Dolley told him with a nod.

"And why don't you and this Abigail woman get along?" Ben asked suspiciously.

"I might have accidentally ditched her brother during a date…"

"You what?"

"He heard my last name and laughed. Was I really supposed to stick around after that? Anyway…he was apparently very upset about it, and she tends to give me death glares at all the fundraising galas. So you better go see her without me, and try not to mention that you're my older brother. She might not like that so much…"

He sighed, "I was planning on using an alias any way so I guess it doesn't set us back too much, but try not to anger people who might come in handy in the future, okay?"

"It's not like I knew we'd be needing her to let you stop someone from stealing the Declaration of Independence," She scoffed when her brother gave her a reproachful look.

"It figures you would be on the bad side of the one person that might actually help us," Riley commented with a smirk.

She rolled her eyes at him, "Shut up."

"Meet us at the Lincoln Memorial in about an hour," Ben told her as he and Riley walked further away.

* * *

"YOU'RE GOING TO WHAT?" Dolley yelled after being briefed by her brother on his decision to steal the declaration himself, "Oh my God…"

"This…is huge," Riley mumbled as he took a seat beside Dolley, "It's prison huge. You are gonna go to prison, you know that?"

"Yeah, probably," Ben agreed casually.

"That would bother most people," Riley said.

"Ian's going to try and steal it, and if he succeeds…"

"He'll destroy the Declaration," Dolley finished for him thoughtfully.

"Don't tell me you actually agree with this plan…" Riley said as he looked at her in shock.

"Come on, Riley…Remember Dolley Madison?" She asked.

"You mean you?" He asked with a small grin.

She glared playfully at him, "No, the actual Dolley Madison. She had to CUT Washington's portrait out of the frame to save it. BUT she HAD to in order to keep the British from destroying it. The same concept applies here. Better a little damage than complete destruction."

"But Dolley Madison never risked GOING TO JAIL," Riley told her.

"The fact is…the only way to protect the declaration is to steal it. It's upside down," Ben informed him, "I don't think there's a choice."

"Ben, for God's sakes, it's like stealing a national monument. Okay?" He motioned to the massive statue of Lincoln, "It's like stealing _him_. It can't be done. Not that it shouldn't be done. It _can't_ be done. Let me prove it to you."

* * *

Riley had them sit down in the Library of Congress while he gathered the information and books he would need, and finally he was ready.

"Okay, you guys, pay attention. I've brought you to the Library of Congress. Why? Because it's the biggest library in the world. Over 20 million books, and they're all saying the same exact thing: listen to Riley. What we have here, my friend, is an entire layout of the archives. Short of builder's blueprints. You've got construction orders, phone lines, water and sewage-it's all here. Now when the Declaration is on display, okay, it is surrounded by guards and video monitors and a little family from Iowa and little kids n their eighth-grade field trip. And beneath an inch of bulletproof glass is an army of sensors and heat monitors that will go off if someone gets too close with a high fever. Now when it's not on display, it is lowered into a four-foot-thick concrete, steel-plated vault…that happens to be equipped with an electronic combination lock and biometric access denial systems," Riley said as he fiddle with his glasses, and looked at them victoriously.

Dolley was very impressed and a little worried…how were they going to get past all of that. She looked to Ben for an answer. He looked very calm and undisturbed.

"You know, Thomas Edison tried and failed nearly 2,000 times to develop the carbonized cotton-thread filament for the incandescent light bulb," Her brother stated seemingly randomly.

"Edison?" Riley asked in confusion.

"When asked about it, he said, 'I didn't fail, I found out 2,000 ways how NOT to make a light bulb.' But he only needed to find one way to make it work," Ben finished as he turned a book around for both of them to see, "The Preservation Room. Enjoy. Go ahead. Do you know what the Preservation Room is for?"

"Delicious jams and jellies?" Riley asked hopefully. He really didn't want to go to jail. If Ben found a way he would stick with him, but he would prefer there not be a way.

Dolley let out a snicker, and smiled at her best friend, "No, it's where they clean and repair all the items and documents in the archives when they're not locked up or on display."

Ben nodded to his little sister, "When the case needs work they take it out of the vault, directly across the hall and into the Preservation Room. The best time for us, or Ian, to steal it would be during the gala this weekend when the guards are distracted by the VIPs upstairs. But we'll make our way to the Preservation Room, where there's much less security."

"Huh," Riley said, "Well, if Ian…uh…Preservation…hmm. The gala, huh? This might be possible."

"It might," Ben said with a grin.

"Now we just have to figure out how to get into the gala…," Riley said pensively.

"That's easy. My boss gave me her invitation. It's for me and a guest," She told them both.

"You were planning on making me go weren't you?" Riley asked her suspiciously.

"Of course," She told him simply, "But now I'm thinking I should take Ben."


	5. Chapter 5

**Saving Washington's Portrait**

**Chapter Five**

_"At this late hour a wagon has been procured, and I have had it filled with plate and the most valuable portable articles, belonging to the house."-Dolley Madison_

"Are we ready?" Riley asked them anxiously.

"I am, I don't know about Dolley," Ben said with an impatient sigh.

"Back off, I'm a girl…I have more to do than you," She called from her bedroom, "And besides…I'm ready."

She walked into the living room and stopped by the couch to slip on her heels. She rested her left hand on the couch while the right hand slipped the shoes on her feet. She looked up to find both her brother and her best friend staring at her, but for very different reasons.

"You're not wearing that," Ben said sternly as he observed the evening gown's plunging neckline.

"Yes I am, and besides I don't have another gown to wear," She told him as she rolled her eyes. The gown was made of pale gold satin and the neckline dipped just below her breasts. It was trimmed in a shimmering burgundy fabric. The plunging neckline stopped when it ran into a burgundy ribbon that gave the dress an empire waisted look, and the skirt began there as well. It was elegantly pleated and had a very small train. Her hair was up in an elegant French Twist.

Riley gulped nervously as he ripped his eyes away from the dress or more specifically Dolley _in_ the dress. She'd never worn a gown like that before to any of the other galas he'd been forced to go to. Dolley marched forward and picked up her burgundy wrap off the back of her recliner.

"What are you guys waiting on? Let's go," She said briskly as she opened the door to her apartment and motioned them out. After the door was closed and locked she walked on ahead of the guys. Riley noticed the burgundy ribbon wasn't tied in the back.

"Um, Dolley?"

"Yes?"

"Your dress isn't tied," He told her.

"Damn," She said as she stopped and turned her back to face him, "Would you tie it for me? I'm not gonna be able to reach it."

"Um…yeah sure," He said with another nervous gulped as he reached forward and fumbled with the ribbon. He just couldn't seem to get it tied, "I…um…almost got it."

Ben sighed, "I'll do it."

He took the ribbon from Riley and tied it very quickly, "There, you're good to go. Now let's get out of here."

Riley glared at Ben as he walked passed the pair, "I would've gotten it tied, you know."

* * *

Ben had called a car service and rented a black town car with a driver for the night. Ben said it was to make it look less suspicious. The car was going to leave as soon as it had dropped them off. It did look better than the two of them arriving in Riley's massive van. On their way to the National Archives Ben handed Dolley an earpiece and put one in his own ear.

"What's this for?"

"Talking to Riley while we're inside at the gala," Ben told her.

"Right," She said as she stuck the piece just inside of her ear.

The car reached the Archives and Ben stepped out first. He held out his hand to help Dolley out of the car.

"For the record, even though I don't like that dress, you don't look horrible," Ben told her as they headed toward the building.

"Is that brother-speak for "You look good"?" She asked him with a grin.

He ignored her, "Riley, can you hear me?"

"Unfortunately, yeah. We're all set in here," Riley answered.

"Hey there, Ri," Dolley said brightly.

"And hello to you too," He said, "By the way, Gates family, try not to get caught, huh? Because if you do, you should know that I will drive away and never look back."

"No you won't," Dolley said with a chuckle.

He sighed laboriously, "I know I won't…I'm just that stupid."

"No, that's just how much you love us," Dolley grinned.

"Yes, because I'm just that stupid," He repeated.

They made it successfully through security as Dolley showed them her invitation and her ID (both her actual ID and her Smithsonian Institute ID). Once they were inside she and Ben split up. He left to find Abigail and Dolley was supposed to wait to be needed as a distraction. They had discussed it and decided it was best for Ben to actually steal the Declaration on his own. It would be easier to walk around unnoticed if he went down there by himself. Whenever it came time for him to leave Dolley was supposed to look for anyone who might be onto him and distract them. Dolley sighed and went to stand by a vacant table. She grabbed a glass of Champagne from a passing waiter and set her burgundy clutch down on the table.

"Dolley?" A voice asked from behind her. Dolley whipped around and smiled brightly at the man who spoke to her.

"Gabe!" She said excitedly as she gave him a hug, "How are you?"

The broad shouldered blonde man smiled as he answered, "I'm very good now that you're back. I thought you were supposed to be gone for another couple of weeks?"

"I was, but something came up…a family emergency of sorts, and I had to come home," She told him as casually as possible. She was slightly distracted by Her brother and Riley. She could hear their conversation in her ear piece.

"Emergency? Nothing too serious I hope?" Gabe asked worriedly.

"Oh no, nothing too serious. My brother got into a little trouble and I had to bail him out. That's all," She said with a mischievous twinkle.

"_What exactly did you have to bail me out of?"_

She grinned even brighter as Ben's miffed tone came over the ear piece.

"Well, then I trust everything is fine now?" He asked.

"For the time being," She answered vaguely.

"_Who is this guy?"_

"_That's an excellent question, Riley."_

Dolley had to bite the inside of her cheek to keep her from rolling her eyes.

"So, Gabe, how are things at the Smithsonian? I trust the pop culture reconstruction is going nicely?" She asked him politely.

"_Oh, you work with him. You know workplace romances are highly frowned upon."_

"Things are going great almost had a crisis with the Ruby Slippers though. A construction worker almost knocked over the temporary case we had them in," Gabe said with a chuckle.

"Yikes, some one caught them I take it?" She asked worriedly.

"Yeah, I did. All those years playing football in high school finally came in handy," He said with a laugh.

"_High School Jock Type, huh? Have you told him about your days in the Debate Club? I'm sure he'll appreciate that."_

If only Riley and Bed were somewhere nearby…maybe she could smack them and tell them to shut up. She got lucky though because as soon as Riley spoke that last comment Ben finally made it to the elevator.

"_We're in the elevator."_

"_Okay, I'm gonna turn of the surveillance cameras. Ready? In five, four, three…now. Ben Gates, you are now the invisible man."_

"Dolley? Dolley? Are okay?"

Dolley suddenly realized Gabe was talking to her, "Huh? Oh, yeah, I'm fine. Sorry, I spaced out for a second."

He chuckled, "That's okay I'm used to it. I hang around you all the time, remember?"

She laughed, "How could I forget."

She continued to talk with Gabe for a few more minutes and then things began to get intense over the ear piece so she excused herself and hid out in the bathroom. She was too distracted to pay attention to conversation.

There were suddenly multiple bangs over the earpiece.

"_What was that? Who's shooting?"_

After a few minutes of silence Dolley finally couldn't take it anymore.

"Ben? Are you still there?" She asked urgently.

"_I'm in the elevator. Ian's here. There was, uh, shooting."_

"_I hate that guy."_

"You and me both, Ri," Dolley agreed as she headed out of the bathroom and back into the hallway. As she reached the hallway she saw Abigail asking the attendant something, and she instinctively knew it was about Ben. She saw her head back for the ballroom. Not long after that Ben reappeared and headed for the ballroom as well. She could tell he had noticed Abigail's presence because he immediately walked away and headed for the gift shop. Dolley headed for the gift shop as well when she noticed the cashier giving Ben trouble.

"Hey, what's going on?" She asked him once she reached the counter where he was standing.

"I don't seem to have enough cash to pay for this _souvenir_, that's all," He told her urgently as he motioned to the cash he had counted out on the table.

"Oh, well ...um…I have my Visa card, will that work?" Dolley suggested with a slight grimace on her face. She knew it was going to complicate things, but that was the only solution she saw.

"That's fine with me," The cashier said as she held her hand out for the card.

"Wait, let's get this one too if we're gonna do that," Ben said as he grabbed a Declaration replica.

"Sure, why not?" Dolley deadpanned, "it's not like you're paying for it, now is it?"

She sighed and handed the cashier her card. The girl ran it through and then handed her the receipt.

"Thanks," She said with a sigh before looping her arm through Ben's and walking out of the gift shop, "I think we need to get out of here now, don't you?"

He rolled his eyes and they both headed toward the exit. The two of them power walked all the way out of the building.

"_Where are you guys?" _

They grinned at eachother as they heard Riley chanting through the ear piece. They finally reached the street.

"_Where are you?"_

"Stop talking," Ben commanded, "Start the van."

Dolley hurried and hopped in the passenger seat.

"Ben…the, uh, mean Declaration Lady is behind you," Riley said as he tried to sink down in his seat. Dolley bit her lip anxiously as they began to talk.

"Ben, stop chatting and get in the van," Dolley snapped into her earpiece. They heard the alarm go off and through Riley's rear view mirror he saw Ben give Abigail the document.

The minute she started screaming Ben hopped in the van.

"GO!"

"We can't just let her go!?" Riley and Dolley exclaimed at the same time.

"Yes we can, just go!" Ben exclaimed.

Riley hesitated. Suddenly a catering truck screeched to a halt in front of Abigail.

"This can't be good," Dolley said with wide eyes as she and Riley exchanged startled looks.

* * *

_Okay that's all for this update! Sorry it took me so long...I should be updating again soon! I hope you guys enjoy it!_

_angellwings_


	6. Chapter 6

**Saving Washington's Portrait**

**Chapter Six**

_"I am accordingly ready; I have pressed as many Cabinet papers into trunks as to fill one carriage;"-Dolley Madison_

"Wait, no. Hold it!" Ben said as they all tried to figure out what was happening. Someone stepped out of the truck and started toward Abigail, "Oh, bad! Bad, bad, bad!"

Ben stepped out of the van to stop them, but the driver immediately began shooting.

"What the hell? Are they shooting at us?" Dolley exclaimed in shock.

Amidst Riley's ducking he answered, "Well, they certainly aren't shooting at that old couple walking their dog!"

By the time the shooting had stopped Ian and his army of lunk heads had pulled Abigail into the van.

Ben climbed back into the van, "Go! Go!"

Riley did as he was told and took off after the catering truck.

"Once we catch them what are we gonna do?" Riley asked.

"I'm working on it," Ben answered.

"Right turn, right turn," Dolley mumbled urgently to Riley as the truck turned and sirens blared around them.

"I got it! Geez, now is not the time for you to be a backseat driver!" Riley yelled as he turned. As they caught up with the truck it swerved to miss a bigger truck.

"Oh my God, we are so gonna die in this van," Dolley exclaimed as Riley swerved as well.

Suddenly they were speeding through a construction zone and being bounced around inside the van, "Yep, definitely gonna die."

"Skidding, skidding, skidding," Riley mumbled to himself as they reached flat road again. Suddenly the back door of the catering truck swung open with Abigail hanging on to it.

"Oh, no," Ben said.

"Oh, my God," Dolley said in shock.

"Holy Lord," Riley said with what sounded like resignation in his tone.

Lunk Head Man, otherwise known as Shaw, began shooting at them.

"Always with the shooting! For crying out loud!" Dolley yelled as they all ducked.

Dolley's head whipped around to the back of the van as she heard the door open, "Ben? What are you doing?"

"Get me next to her!" He told Riley.

As Riley sped up Dolley suddenly knew what he was up to, "Okay, when did my life suddenly become an Indiana Jones movie?"

Ben was almost able to reach Abigail from his position hanging out of the van when both Riley and the driver of the truck realized they needed to swerve away from oncoming bus. Dolley instinctively looked backwards to make sure Ben was alright.

"This is insane!" Riley yelled as they caught back up to the truck. Dolley turned around just in time to see her brother grab Abigail's hand and tell her to jump. As she jumped Shaw began shooting at them once again.

"One of these days I'm gonna steal that gun and hide it somewhere that jerk will never find it…like…in a library," Dolley muttered darkly as Ben closed the door and Riley turned down another street.

"Are you alright?" Ben asked Abigail.

"No, those lunatics-"

"You're not hurt, are you?" He asked again.

"You are all lunatics!" She yelled.

"Are you hungry?"

"What?!" Abigail asked in shock.

"Are you alright?" Ben tried one last time.

"Still a little on edge from being shot at, but I'll be okay. Thanks for asking," Riley answered.

"Riley, you're my very best friend, but you are NEVER driving again," Dolley said as she took a deep relieved breath.

"Hey, just be glad we're still alive. I know I am," Riley answered.

"Yeah, well I'm not alright! Those men have the Declaration of Independence!" Abigail yelled. Dolley kept her head ducked and turned away from Abigail in the hopes of keeping this woman from recognizing her.

"She lost it?!" Riley asked.

"They don't have it," Ben told all of them calmly as he opened up a document tube and showed them the real Declaration, "See? Ok? Now could you please stop shouting?"

"Give me that!" Abigail yelled as she tried to snatch the document.

"You're still shouting. It's really starting to annoy," Ben said in exasperation, "You would do well, Dr. Chase, to be a bit more civilized in this instance."

"If this is the real one, what did they get?" She asked.

"A souvenir," Dolley answered with a smirk. She still didn't look in Abigail's direction.

"I thought it'd be a good idea to have a duplicate. It turned out I was right," Ben clarified. "I actually had to pay for the souvenir and the real one, so you owe me 35 dollars, plus tax."

Riley chuckled, "Genius."

"Who were those men?" She asked.

Dolley sighed. All of her questions were really beginning to get annoying.

"Just the guys we warned you were gonna steal the Declaration," Ben told her.

"And you didn't believe us," Riley pointed out.

"We did the only thing we could do to keep it safe," Ben continued.

"_Verdammt!_ Give me that!" Abigail yelled.

Dolley gasped and couldn't help but turn to face her with a smirk, "You so just swore in German, and some very serious swearing at that."

"Dolley?" Abigail asked with a glare, "You're one of _them_? I should have known!"

"You know something? You're shouting again," Ben told her calmly.

"And swearing, too," Riley added.

"Well, we probably deserved that," Ben said.

"It's not gonna do you any good. Trust me, there is _not_ a treasure map on the back of the Declaration of Independence," Abigail said frustratedly.

"And there's no chance anyone can steal this either," Ben said as he shook the document tube. "I leveled with you 100 percent. Everything I told you was the truth."

"I want that document, Mr. Brown," She demanded.

"Okay, my name's not Brown. It's Gates. I leveled with you 98 percent," He told her.

"Did you just say "Gates"?" Abigail asked as she looked at Dolley who was sitting in the passenger seat. "_He's _your crazy brother that everyone talks about, isn't he? The one with that conspiracy theory about the Founding Fathers?"

"It's not a conspiracy theory," Ben and Dolley said simultaneously.

"Per se," Riley added.

"And, Chase, for your information the only person allowed to call my brother crazy is me. So back off," Dolley said with a glare.

"You know what? I take it back. You're not liars. You're insane," Abigail stated, "How do you plan on finding this "invisible map"? Have you thought about that?"

"You know how this works, Dr. Chase. What would you do?" Ben asked.

"You can't seriously intend to run chemical tests on the Declaration of Independence in the back of a moving van," She exclaimed.

"We have a clean-room environment all set up. EDS suits, a particulate air filtration system, the whole shebang," Riley told her as he let his own frustration with her show a little.

"Really?" Abigail asked with genuine interest.

"We can't go back there," Dolley said with a wince.

"What? Why not?" Riley asked in shock.

"Well, um, I kind of had to use a credit card because _somebody_ got caught "stealing" in the gift shop," Dolley said as she tossed Ben a look.

"A credit-card slip?" Riley yelled, "Dude, we're on the grid. They'll have your records from forever. They'll have his records from forever. They'll have _my_ records from forever!"

"I know. I know. It's only a matter of minutes before the FBI shows up at all our front doors," Dolley said with a sigh.

"What do we do?" Riley asked Ben.

"We need those letters," Ben said.

"What letters?" Abigail asked.

"You know, get off the road. Take a right," Ben instructed Riley.

"What letters?" Abigail asked again.

Dolley groaned in frustration and snapped at her, "The Silence Dogood letters. Now do us all a favor and _quit asking so many damn questions_!"

Abigail rolled her eyes at the other woman as Riley pulled over and parked in the middle of a grassy area. Ben stepped out and began pacing while Abigail sat on the edge of the van.

"You have the original Silence Dogood letters. Did you steal those too?" She asked.

Dolley groaned and rested her head on the dashboard and glanced at Riley, "Does she ever shut up?"

"We have scans of the originals. Quiet please," Ben said.

"How'd you get scans?" She asked.

"I know the person who has the originals. Now shush," Ben said impatiently.

"Why do you need them?"

"She really can't shut her mouth, can she?" Ben asked Riley and his sister.

"Tell me about it. Try being forced to use her as a consultant on a pre-fire White House Reconstruction," Dolley huffed as she sat up.

"I'll tell you what, look. I will let you hold on to this if you'll promise to shut up, please," He said in a snippy tone. "Thank you."

"Um, I don't know if that's such a good idea," Riley said warily.

Dolley sighed and put her attention back on her brother, "You know what you have to do, big brother."

"I know what to do. I'm just trying to think of anything else we could do," Ben said.

"Well, not to be a, uh, nudge, but you do realize how many people we have after us. We probably have our own satellite by now. It took you all of two seconds to decide to steal the Declaration of Independence," Riley told him honestly.

"Yeah, but I didn't think I was gonna personally have to tell my dad about it," Ben snapped.

At that exact moment Abigail attempted to take off with the Declaration.

"We should have seen that coming," Dolley said as she and Riley watched Ben chase her down and rip the document tube away from her.

"Let me go!" She yelled.

"Okay, you're let go. Go, shoo," He said as he waved her away.

"I'm not going. Not without the declaration," She said as she tried to grab the tube again.

"You're not going _with_ the Declaration," Ben told her as he put the strap around his shoulder. Abigail immediately grabbed the strap.

"Yes I am. I'm not letting it out of my sight, so I'm going," She told him.

"Wait. You're not going with us with the Declaration," He insisted as he tried to pull away and to his dismay she pulled back.

"Yes, I am."

"No, you're not."

"Look, if you wanted to leave me behind, you shouldn't have told me where you were going," She said plainly.

Riley groaned as Ben could come up with no counter argument, and Dolley merely stared in shock.

"You've got to be kidding me," Dolley whined.

* * *

"Here we go," Dolley said as they approached their father's front stoop. Ben reached forward and rang the doorbell, and soon after their father appeared at the door.

"Dad," Ben said with a slight smile.

"Hi daddy," Dolley said from behind him with a small wave. She pulled her wrap tighter around her shoulders as her chill suddenly reminded her just how revealing her dress was.

"Where's the party?" They're father asked as he observed their clothing, "And what in the world are you wearing, young lady?"

Dolley chuckled nervously, "It's a dress, dad."

"I'm not so sure about that," He told her sternly.

Riley grinned at her and suppressed a chuckle at her expense.

"Uh, well, uh, we're in a little trouble," Ben told him.

"What kind of a fool thing have you two done?" Their father asked immediately. He looked to Dolley and then to Abigail, "Neither one of you girls are pregnant are you?"

"DAD!" Dolley exclaimed in embarrassment as she blushed furiously.

"Well if either one of them is, are you going to leave your grandchild out in the cold?" Ben asked.

Abigail turned to Riley, "I look pregnant?"

Riley shrugged and avoided any eye contact with the blonde woman.

They were motioned inside and as they walked through the door Mr. Gates whispered to both his children, "This better not be about that dumb treasure."

"Well, have a seat. Make yourselves comfortable. There's some pizza. It's still warm, I think," Patrick said as they all entered the living room.

"Dad, I need the Silence Dogood letters," Ben said quickly.

Dolley sighed, "It's about the treasure."

Patrick looked momentarily shocked and then turned to Riley and Abigail, "They dragged you two into this nonsense?"

"Literally," Abigail answered.

"I volunteered," Riley said with sarcastic pride.

"Well, unvolunteer, before you waste your life," Patrick told them.

"Knock it off, Dad," Ben said frustratedly.

"Sure, sure, I know, I'm the family kook. I have a job, a house, health insurance. At least I had your mother, for however brief a time. At least I had the two of you. What do you two have? Him?" Patrick asked as he motioned to Riley as he ate a left over piece of pizza. Dolley glanced over at Riley and barely managed to keep from grinning at his expression.

"Look, if you just give us the letters, we're gone," Ben told him.

"You had to get your sister into all this mess as well? You disappoint me, Ben," Patrick said sadly.

"Well, maybe that's the real Gates-family legacy. Sons who disappoint their fathers," Ben said hotly. Dolley winced and very reluctantly glanced up at her father's face.

"Get out. Take your troubles with you," Patrick told him.

Dolley needed to change the mood of the room, "Dad…Ben found the Charlotte."

And just as she had suspected her father was once again interested. Whether he admitted it or not he would always be interested, "The Charlotte? You mean she was a ship?"

Dolley nodded vigorously, "Not just a ship…a beautiful ship. A semi-preserved masterpiece…"

Ben and Patrick both grinned knowingly in her direction.

"Sorry," She said as she cleared her throat, "Continue."

"And the treasure?" Patrick asked them both.

Ben sighed nervously, "No, no. But we found another clue that led us here."

"Yeah, and that'll lead you to another clue. And that's all you'll ever find, is another clue. Don't you get it, Ben? I finally figured it out. The legend says that the treasure was buried to keep it from the British. But what really happened was the legend was invented to keep the British occupied searching for buried treasure. The treasure is a myth," Patrick ranted.

Dolley looked away. She wasn't quite sure why, but the knowledge that her father had lost faith in the treasure's existence saddened her. He was the one that had first told _her_ the story of the treasure. How could he not believe it?

"I refuse to believe that," Ben stated with determination.

"Well, you can believe what you want. You're a grown person. What am I doing? Do what you want, Ben. Do what you want," Patrick said as he walked away to another corner of the room.

"He's probably right. You don't even know if there is another clue," Abigail said with her best pessimistic tone.

"Well, I can think of way where we could find out. And we can find out right now," Ben told her.

* * *

"Will somebody please explain to me what these magic numbers are?" Riley asked from his spot beside the table where Ben and Abigail were getting the numbers off of the document. Dolley grinned at her friend and sat down beside him to explain it.

"It's an Ottendorf cipher," Dolley told him with a smile.

"That's right," Patrick said with a strange mix of pride and frustration.

"Oh, Okay," Riley said as he pretended to understand, "What's an Ottendorf cipher?"

"They're just codes," Patrick said dismissively.

"Each of those three numbers corresponds to a word in a key," Dolley told him after rolling her eyes at her father.

"Usually a random book or a newspaper article," Abigail added.

"In this case the Silence Dogood letters. So it's like the page number of the key text, the line of the page, and the letter in that line," Ben told his young friend before turning to his dad. "So, dad, where are the letters?"

"You know, it's just by sheer happenstance that his grandfather…"

"Dad…" Ben said with a sigh.

"…even found them. They were in an antique desk from the press room…"

"Dad…" Dolley said as she began to realize what his ranting meant.

"…of The New England Courant. That's a newspaper."

"Dad, where are the letters?" Both Ben and Dolley asked at the same time.

"I don't have them," He told them. Dolley hung her head and ran a hand across her brow.

"What?" Ben asked in shock.

"I don't have them."

Ben cleared his throat, "Where are they?"

"I donated them to the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia," He stated.

"Time to go," Ben said with a disappointed nod.

"I still can't believe it. All this time no one knew what was on the back," Abigail said thoughtfully.

Dolley's eyes widened as she foresaw where this would go.

"The back of what?" Her father asked as he swiftly reached for the document.

"No!" The entire room seemed to protest at once.

"Oh my God. Oh my God," Her father repeated to himself in shock.

"I know," Ben said.

"Oh my God, what have you done? This is…this is the…"

"I know," Ben said again.

"This is the Declaration of Independence," They're father said with a slight whine in his voice.

"Yes. And it's very delicate," Abigail said as she took the edge out of his hands.

"You stole it?" Patrick asked as he straightened up. Patrick glanced at Riley who pointed to Ben automatically.

"Dad, I can explain, but I don't have time. It was necessary. And you saw the cipher," Ben told him.

"And that will lead to another clue, and that will lead to another clue! There is no treasure. I wasted 20 years of my life, and now you've not only destroyed yours but your sisters as well," He ranted again.

"Hey! I destroyed my own life thank you very much. Ben actually tried to keep me out of this," Dolley said defiantly as she crossed her arms.

"You two actually pulled me into all of this," He said.

"Well, we can't have that," Ben said sadly.

* * *

"Your dad's got a sweet ride," Riley said as he slumped back in his seat and closed his eyes. Dolley shook her head and grinned at him.

"I think we should change clothes. We look kind of conspicuous, don't you think?" Ben asked Abigail and Dolley.

"I'd love to go shopping too, but we have no money," Riley said with his eyes still closed.

"I wouldn't say no money," Dolley smirked as she tossed a small book to Abigail, "I swiped that while you guys were tying him up."

"Genius," Ben told his sister with a proud smirk, "He usually tucks a few hundred dollars somewhere between those pages."

"_Common Sense._ How appropriate," Abigail said appreciatively.

"When are we gonna get there? I'm hungry. This car smells weird," Riley whined.

Dolley rolled her eyes and laughed at him, "You're such a baby."

"Yes, and I'm a tired baby, so leave me alone," He told her playfully as he pulled his coat tighter around him and attempted to go to sleep.


	7. Chapter 7

**Saving Washington's Portrait**

**Chapter Seven**

_Our private property must be sacrificed, as it is impossible to procure wagons for its transportation. - Dolley Madison  
_

"Okay, we are going to go in here while you, Riley, go get that clue," Ben told him as he handed him the notebook with the cipher in it, and pointed him in the right direction.

He nodded and jogged off.

"So what do I do with my dress when I get a new outfit, Ben?" Dolley asked curiously.

"Dump it," He said bluntly.

"Dump it? This dress is a designer original. I even took it to get it fitted. It's practically custom made for me. I can't just "dump it"." She whined.

"Well, you can't carry around the city all day," He told her.

She huffed, "Fine but when we get out of jail you're buying me a new dress."

He rolled his eyes, "Let's just get some clothes and get out of here."

Dolley took a considerable less amount of time than Abigail and Ben because they kept getting side tracked. Dolley could tell that Dr. Chase was intrigued by Ben, and she wasn't sure if she approved.

She went through the racks and found a pair of faded and distressed straight leg jeans, a long sleeve light green shirt, a quilted, slick black vest with a faux furr lined hood to go over the shirt. She wander over to the shoes and found a pair of distressed light green gingham slip on Keds tennis shoes. She quickly made her way to the dressing room and changed. She cut off the tags and then handed them to the teenage cashier when it came time to pay. She handed the girl the appropriate cash, and then wondered if she should go find Riley. She looked back at the dressing room and stared sadly as the glimpse of gold satin that she could see under the door. It was a shame to lose such a beautiful dress.

She decided not to go find Riley, and just wandered around the store impatiently. Abigail and Ben headed to the dressing rooms, and she noticed changing clothes in separate dressing rooms didn't stop them from talking. She looked around for a little longer. She tried on hats, sunglasses, anything that would keep her busy until the other two were ready to go. They finally changed and paid at the cash register just before Riley came rushing up the stairs. Dolley made her way to them.

"Hey," Riley said as he approached.

"Did you get it? Riley?" Ben asked.

"Oh, I got it," Riley answered proudly. "The vision to see the treasured past comes as the timely shadow crosses in front of the house of Pass and Stow. Now, Pass and Stow, of course, referring to--"

"The Liberty Bell," all three of them said simultaneously.

"Why do you have to do that?" Riley asked frustratedly. Dolley chuckled and moved to stand beside him and patted his back with patronizing sympathy. He glared at her playfully and she smiled back at him brightly.

"Well, John Pass and John Stow cast the bell," Abigail told him.

"Okay. Well, then, what does the rest of this mean?" Riley asked as he noticed Dolley loop her arm through his.

"Wait…"the vision to see the treasured past" must refer to a way to read the map," Ben said thoughtfully.

"Well, I thought the cipher was the map," Riley said.

"No, the cipher was the way to find the way to read the map," Ben clarified.

"Right, cause that's not confusing at all," Dolley told him sarcastically.

"That means the way to read the map can be found where the "timely shadow" crosses in front of the Liberty Bell," Abigail said.

"Crosses in front of the "house" of the Liberty Bell, actually. Independence Hall," Dolley corrected her.

Abigail gave a little "harrumph" noise before she spoke up again, "Right, so "timely shadow"—it's a specific time."

"Right," Ben said with a grin.

"Uh, what time?" Riley asked urgently.

"What time? What time?" Her brother asked himself thoughtfully before he turned back to Abigail. "Wait a minute, wait. You're gonna love this."

Dolley's brow furrowed at her brother as he headed back toward the counter.

"Excuse me, can I see one of those hundred-dollar bills I paid you with?" He asked the teenager.

Dolley rolled her eyes at her brother. Like that was gonna work.

"No," She said simply.

Dolley stifled a chuckle. Ben turned and gave her a small glare.

"Oh, well , uh, here. I have this diver's watch. It's called a Submariner. I dive with it. It's actually quite valuable. You can use it as collateral," He told her.

Dolley grinned as the girl rolled her eyes and mumbled, "Whatever."

"Thank you. On the back of a hundred dollar bill is an etching of Independence Hall based on a painting done in…"

"Hello," the girl said as she waved the bill at him.

"Thank you…in the 1780s, who..."

Dolley smirked when her brother turned to the cashier and spoke to her like she needed to know.

"The artist was actually a friend of Benjamin Franklin's. It's wonderful."

Dolley suddenly knew where he was going. Their grandfather had showed this to them on more than one occasion.

"Fascinating," the girl said sarcastically.

He handed the document to Abigail, "Hold this."

"Okay," She said. Ben placed his hand back on the tube as he realized she had a chance to run with it.

She smiled at him, "I'm not going anywhere."

"The clock tower," Dolley said, "You're gonna look at the time on the clock tower aren't you?"

"I think it's going to give us the specific time we need," He told her with a grin.

"What do you see?" Abigail asked.

"2:22."

"What time is it now?" Abigail asked.

The clerk looked at Ben's watch, "Almost three."

"We missed it," Abigail said dissapointedly.

Riley looked up with a surprised and yet pleased face, "No, we didn't. We didn't miss it because…uh…You don't know this? I-I know something about history that you don't know."

Riley said as he glanced between Ben and Dolley.

"We'd be very excited to learn about it, Riley," He said impatiently.

"Well, hold on one second, let me just…let me just take in this moment," He gloated. Dolley chuckled and smacked his shoulder. "This is…this is cool. Is this how you feel all the time? Because, you know…except now, of course."

"Riley!" Abigail snapped.

"All right. What I know is that daylight savings wasn't established until World War I. If it's 3 PM now, OK, that means in 1776, it would be 2 PM." He told them.

"Let's go," Abigail said as she raced off.

Ben followed after her. Dolley smiled proudly at her friend.

"Riley, you're a genius!" She said as she gave him a quick peck on the cheek and then left right behind her older brother.

"Yeah," He said in a shocked tone.

After he recovered and moved toward the steps he spoke up again, "Do you actually know who the first person to suggest daylight savings was?"

"Benjamin Franklin," The three of them answered simultaneously once again.

Dolley heard Riley stomp his foot in a pouting manner, and chuckled.

They arrived at Independence Hall just in time to catch the tour. They blended in with the crowd as the moved inside the doors.

"Welcome, ladies and gentleman, to Independence Hall. Construction began on the Hall in 1732 and lasted well into the 1750s. It's design was created by lawyer and politician, Andrew Hamilton…"

"Oh, that is so not true," Dolley said in a huff.

"I'm sorry, miss, did you say something?" The guide asked politely.

Ben gave her a silencing glare but Dolley crossed her arms over her chest and spoke up.

"Yes, I said that your fact about Andrew Hamilton is untrue. Hamilton actually had very little to do with the project. This building we're standing in was actually designed and constructed by Edmund Woolley. The man who also designed the Whitefield Meeting House that now belongs to the University of Philadelphia," She told him.

The guide cleared his throat nervously, "Oh, well yes, of course. Mr. Woolley did indeed contribute greatly to the construction of this great Hall."

The guide's voice cracked as he then continued on with the tour as usual.

Ben sighed, "You just had to say something."

"I'm an architectural historian, Ben. What choice did I have? I can't let these poor people walk away misinformed," She whispered to him defensively.

A little ways into the tour the four of them snuck up into the steeple into the "staff only" sections of Independence Hall.

"What bell is this?" Riley asked as they climbed up into the steeple.

"The Centennial Bell, " Ben stated.

"It replaced the Liberty Bell in 1876," Dolley told her friend as she stepped closer to the bell to examine it.

"There it is," Abigail said as they watched shadow fall.

"All right. I'm gonna go down there, and you meet me in the signing room. Okay? Allright," Ben told her.

"Okay," She nodded.

"All right, let's go," Abigail told Riley and Dolley.

"Exactly why are you bossing me around now?" Dolley asked her. "I mean, I'm the one that's grown up with this story of the treasure. I know just as much about it as Ben. I should probably be acting all "second in command" now instead of you."

Abigail sighed, "Not now, Dolley."

"What exactly is your problem with me anyway? I ditched your brother…big deal. He's a big boy I think he can handle it," She said as they made their way to the signing room.

"You really want to know?" Abigail asked.

"Yes, I really do."

"Your work style lacks finesse…you're a little too confrontational for my tastes," She told her.

"So basically…I get on your nerves?" Dolley asked.

"Yes, basically," Abigail said. "And until all of this I also thought you were a little delusional."

"Oh, good because I think you're uptight and a little cold," Dolley told her factually.

"Then we're even?" Abigail asked as they picked up their pace to a job. "Can we be civil now?"

"I don't see why not," Dolley agreed.

Behind them Riley shook his head with a confused expression, "Women are weird."

* * *

Ben entered the signing room as a tour group was just leaving.

"Hey," Riley whispered to him. "What did you score?"

"I found this," He said as he held out a strange looking pair of bifocals. "Some kind of ocular device."

"You could just say the word glasses, you know?" Dolley told him with a grin.

"The vision to see the treasured past?" He said as he offered the glasses to Riley and then took the Declaration from Abigail. "Let me take this."

"They're like early American X-ray specs," Riley said in awe.

"Benjamin Franklin invented something like these," Abigail said.

"I'm pretty darn sure he invented these," Dolley said as she took them from Riley and studied them.

"So, what do we do with them?" Riley asked.

"We look through it," He stated simply.

Dolley chuckled at the expression on her brother's face. He looked a little giddy. The four of them carefully unrolled the document. And as they unrolled it Ben let out an exhale.

"What?" Dolley asked curiously.

"It's just that the last time this was here it was being signed," Ben said reverently.

"Ben, there's another tour coming," Riley said bluntly.

"Turn it over," Ben said as the moment abruptly ended. They turned the document and Ben took back the glasses from Dolley.

Ben gasped a couple of times.

"What do you see?" Abigail asked.

"What is it? Is it a treasure map?" Riley asked excitedly.

"It says, "Heere at the wall," spelled with two E's," Ben announced. "Take a look."

He held out the glasses and before Dolley or Riley could grab them Abigail snatched them for herself.

"Wow," She said.

"Why can't they just say, "Go to this place, and here's the treasure, spend it wisely?" Riley asked.

"Because then we wouldn't get to have all of this wonderful fun, Ri," Dolley said sarcastically with a chuckle.

"Oh no," She heard her brother say. She looked up to see his vision focused on the window. They all turned and could clearly see two of Ian's men.

There was a chorus of dread from all of them before Riley ran over to the window, "How'd they find us?"

"Well, Ian has near unlimited resources. And he's smart," Ben said as he and Abigail began rolling up the declaration. Dolley went to the window to stand beside Riley.

"There's no way we're getting out of here without being spotted. No flippin' way," Dolley said.

"Well we don't want them to have the Declaration or the glasses. But we especially don't want them to have them both together," Ben said.

"So what do we do?" Riley asked.

"We separate the lock from the key. We're splitting up," Ben said.

"Good idea," Abigail agreed.

"Really?" Riley asked in shock.

Ben reached over for the leather tube with the strap, "Dolley and I will take this." He made his way to Abigail and grabbed the glasses, "And those. You keep that." He said in reference to the Declaration. "Meet us at the car and call me if you have any problems."

"Like if we get caught and killed?" Riley asked seriously.

"Yes, Ri, that would be a BIG problem," Dolley told him as she shook her head at him.

"Take care of her," Ben said to both of them.

"I will," Riley and Abigail answered at the same time, and yet Dolley knew they were talking about two completely different "her"s.

Ben and Dolley left first. Ben had both the glasses and the case.

"Walk calmly," He told her. She nodded and they casually left the building. They walked for a little ways and both were well aware of the men tailing them. They reached a cross walk and Ben noticed a bus coming.

"Once we're on the other side of this bus and it passes us…start running," He told her quietly. She nodded again and followed his lead. Once the bussed passed behind them they both took off straight ahead. They ran for what felt like forever, and then turned when they reached a graveyard.

"This seems kind of disrespectful!" She yelled to him as they continued to run.

Despite the situation she heard him laugh. They entered another section of the graveyard and Ben shut and locked the gate behind them. When the person chasing them couldn't get through he started shooting.

"Duck and cover!" Ben told her. She nodded and ducked behind the nearest grave. She could see Ben trying to work out what to do, but beyond him she could see a man with a gun.

"Ben, look out!" She yelled just before he began to fire.

"Go! Go! Go!" Ben yelled to her as they both ran toward the back gate and out of the grave yard. Once they were outside he yelled for her to keep running and that he would catch up. She didn't even pause to nod. She kept running until she ran into a locked gate.

"Damn it!"

Ben was seconds behind her, "This way!"

She followed as he turned.

He paused before he began climbing up the fire escape, "We're gonna have to split up. You stay hidden around the corner of the building. I'll throw the tube down to you at some point and then you take off and meet me back at the car, okay?"

"Got it, big brother," She said with a gulp as she headed for her hiding place.

After a few minutes she heard the man chasing them shouting to her brother.

"Hey Gates! Enough Man, give me the document!"

"All right, Phil," She heard her brother say before the leather tube was falling in front of her. It hit the ground and she quickly picked it up just as Ian's henchman leaned off the roof to see where it landed.

"Hey! You stay right there!" He yelled to her.

"Not gonna happen!" Dolley shouted as she immediately sprinted off. Luckily the man climbing down the fire escape gave her a little bit of a head start. She ran as long and hard as she could she heard out raged cries from other people behind her and new she was still being chased. She needed to lose this guy, but how? She spotted a women's public restroom up ahead and smirked. She quickly ducked inside, and hoped he hadn't seen where she'd disappeared to. She wait for fifteen minutes and when no one came inside she peeked out of the door. There was no one there. She sighed in relief and took off in the opposite direction toward the car. She ran a couple more blocks and then slowed as she reached the corner leading to the car. She started around it and saw Ben being handcuffed.

Her eyes widened and she slowly turned around and walked back behind the corner. She frantically pulled out her phone as she continued to walk away from the car, and quickly dialed Riley's number. It rang a few times before he picked up.

"Dolley?" He asked hopefully.

"Thank God! Are you guys okay?"

"Yeah, but Ben--"

"I know. I saw…where are we meeting?" She asked.

"In front of the fountain in the park just around the corner," He told her.

"I'll be there in a flash," She agreed quickly. She slung the leather tube over her shoulder and picked up her pace.

* * *

"Are we sure about this?" Dolley asked them as Abigail took Riley's phone from him.

"It's our last and only option," Abigail told them as she dialed the number. She took a breath before speaking, "Ian…we've got a deal for you."

* * *


	8. Chapter 8

**Saving Washington's Portrait**

**Chapter Eight**

_"It is done... the precious portrait placed in the hands of the gentlemen for safe keeping."_ _- Dolley Madison_

"I've got a bad feeling about this," Dolley said as they approached a Cyber Café on Wall Street.

"We just have to get Ben out of custody. That's the only way out of this," Abigail told her.

"What if Ian decides to…"

"We can make sure he doesn't," Riley told Dolley with determination. "I can track Shaw's cell phone. I just need one of these computers."

Riley immediately situated himself at a computer, "Here we go."

Dolley sat down beside him and watched him work.

"How do you do this kind of stuff?" She asked in amazement.

"Practice," he told her honestly.

"I wouldn't know where to begin," She told him with a sigh.

Abigail glanced at her watch, "They should have him by now. I'm going to call Shaw."

"Tell Lunk Head I say hello," Dolley told her with a cheeky grin.

Abigail chuckled, "Will do."

"Ha! I got it, we're currently tracking Shaw," He said proudly.

They heard Abigail talking on the phone and she seemed to be talking to Ben. Dolley let out a sigh of relief. He was okay.

"We're all okay. Riley's right here doing something clever with a computer," She said as she held the phone to Riley's ear.

"I'm tracking them through the-HEY! I'm tracking you through the GPS in Shaw's phone. They take a turn anywhere we don't want, we'll know it. So don--"

Abigail took the phone back and finished Riley's sentence for him.

"Dolley? Yeah she's here too. Of course, hold on," Abigail handed her the phone.

"Ben? Are you okay?" She asked urgently.

"I'm fine, are you okay?" He asked.

"Yeah, I'm good. Worried about you, but other than that…I'm fine," She said with a sigh.

"I'll be fine, I promise. Can you hand the phone back to Abigail?"

"Yeah, hold on," Dolley said as she tossed the phone back to the blonde.

"Ben, there is a catch."

Dolley listened as Abigail told him about their deal with Ian.

"He's here," Riley announced. They all ran over to the window.

"Here we go," Riley said anxiously as they watched Ben and Ian talk.

Dolley nervously bit her lip and glanced over at Riley. They all noticed Ian indicate and to something across the street and she could see something like fear and resignation cross his features. They watched as Ian and Ben headed toward the church. She noticed another group join them and gasped at who she saw.

"Dad," She whispered as she shook her head. Not long after that two of Ian men walked into the café.

"Let's go." They said simply as they discretely motioned to the guns in their belts.

"Our plan just blew up in our faces, didn't it?" Riley asked her as they began to walk toward the church themselves.

"I'd say so," Dolley agreed with a sigh as she reached out and took Riley's hand. He looked shocked at first but then relaxed and accepted it.

They entered the church as Ben and Ian were talking heatedly. She saw her dad sitting toward the front.

"Dad," She called quietly not wanting to be too loud within the church. He turned to face her. "Are you okay?"

"What do you think?" He asked sarcastically.

Despite the situation she gave him a small grin. At least he still had his spirit. They sat in the back for a bit and watched Ben and Ian try and figure out the map. She heard her father interrupt them at one point.

"This is our fault, isn't it?" Abigail asked them.

Dolley shook her head, "No, it's no one's fault but Ian's. We didn't have a choice, Abigail. Like you said it was last and only option."

Riley leaned toward them and whispered, "How are we going to get out of this?"

"My brother will find a way. He always does," Dolley whispered fiercely as she noticed the men at the front standing up and heading toward the stairs beside the altar. The men on either side of them stood and motioned for the three of them to move as well. They were all headed beneath the church. Ben was waiting by the stairs as they approached. Dolley gave him a quick hug before she and Riley were shoved through the doorway and she noticed Abigail stay behind to say something to Ben before she was forced through the doorway as well. Her father somehow managed to pull she and Ben aside.

"Look, cooperation only lasts as long as the status quo is unchanged. As soon as this guy gets to wherever this thing ends, he won't need you anymore. Or…or any of us," Her father told them logically.

"So we find a way," Dolley said as she shared a determined and knowing look with her brother.

"Find a way to what?" Her father asked.

"To make sure the status quo changes…in our favor," Ben agreed with a nod.

"How?" Patrick asked his children.

"I'm still working on it," Ben said thoughtfully.

"Well, I guess I better work on it too, then," Patrick said.

"That's not a bad idea. We're gonna need all the Gates family intellect on this one," Dolley said with a thoughtful sigh.

"Hey!" Riley called suddenly as he read something, "Par…Hey, I found it…him!"

"Ben!" Ian called. "It's a name."

The three of them and everyone else rushed over.

"Parkington Lane," Her brother said as he read the engraving.

"Are those Templar symbols?" Dolley asked as she leaned over his right shoulder to look as well.

"Yes, he was third-degree master mason of the Blue Lo—Hey!" Ben yelled as he jumped out of the way of one of Ian's men and pulled Dolley with him. The man was smashing the grave to pieces, and he had almost gotten Ben and Dolley in the process. Ian's men pulled out the casket inside and as they held it the bottom fell out and the remains landed below them.

"Be careful no one steps in him."

Dolley gritted her teeth at how disrespectful all of this felt, but held her tongue and didn't say anything.

Everyone crowded around to look inside the tomb as Ian shined his flashlight into it.

She glanced back at Riley and saw his eyes widen, "Okay, who wants to go down the creepy tunnel inside the tomb first?"

"Right, McGregor, Viktor, you stay here, and if anyone should come out with out me, well…use your imagination," Ian commanded before he turned to Ben. "Shall we?"

Ben nodded and went in first, followed by Ian and then Patrick and Shaw. She and Abigail were next followed by Riley. When they stepped out of the tunnel she waited on Abigail and Riley before moving toward the torch light where she knew Ben was standing. She squeezed Ben's hand as she passed him and Riley patted his shoulder. They kept moving but paused when they heard Ben call to Abigail.

They turned just in time to see Ben kiss her, and Dolley grinned. She may only be on civil terms with Abigail, but even she knew it was inevitable given the fact that she and Ben were entirely too curious about each other. She shook her head and then pulled the flabbergasted Riley along behind her. They all walked silently until they reached another chamber with a wooden walkway. Dolley's eyes widened when she noticed a rotted section of wood and stepped over it. This was extremely dangerous.

"What's this?" Ian asked as Ben began making his way forward. Dolley grinned as she too stepped up beside Ian.

"It's a chandelier," She said in awe. It was a massive wooden chandelier. Ben reached forward with his torch and lit it up and then used the ropes and pulley's to move it to the center of the cavern they were in. Dolley's eyes widened even more as she glanced down the cavern.

She gasped, "Yet another time when I need my camera."

"Wow," She heard Riley say on the other side of Ben.

"Look at the elevators," Ben pointed out to her.

"A dumbwaiter system," She said with a happy sigh. "I can't believe it. This had to have been built solely with hand tools."

"How?" asked one of Ian's men.

"Same way the built the pyramids and the Great Wall of China," Her brother told him.

"Yeah, the aliens helped them," Riley added. Dolley chuckled and smacked his shoulder.

"Right, let's go. What are we waiting for?" Ian asked as he hurried them on.

"I'm not going out on that thing. 200 years of termite damage and rot," Patrick protested.

"Dad, do what he says," Ben urged. Dolley gulped and watched anxiously as her father made his way down the walkway. They all made their way down.

"Watch your step," Her father said. "We're right under the Trinity graveyard that's probably why no one ever found this."

Slowly the cavern began to shake and rumble which allowed dust and dirt to fall on top of them.

"What is that?" Riley asked.

"The subway…we must be right next to it," Dolley stated worriedly. There was no telling how that shaking had affected the walkway. They all took one more step and a sudden crashing and ripping noise filled the air as Shaw fell through. Dolley's eyes widened and she instinctively grabbed Riley's hand and looked away. Everyone was screaming for him and they could hear him screaming as he fell as well as the repeated crashes as he crashed into more of the wood.

"Oh, my god," Abigail said in shock as she brought a hand to her mouth. In the next moment where they were standing began to fall and she and Riley immediately jumped onto another section. Abigail and Ben pulled themselves on to an elevator as Ian and her father did the same below them. Riley reached up to take the Declaration from Ben when their elevator suddenly began to fall.

"BEN!" Dolley yelled in a panic. She bit her lip and watched anxiously as they fell. When the elevator stopped falling she saw Abigail hanging from Ben's arm. She watched as her brother had to choose between dropping Abigail or loosing the declaration. Ben being Ben of course chose to drop Abigail safely on the platform below them. In the next moment Ben almost fell himself as the wood he was holding was too old and rotted to support him. At the very last minute her father and Ian dropped a rope for him and he swing to safety. She and Riley made their way toward the couple while they listened to Ben apologize to Dr. Chase.

"No, don't be. I would have done exactly the same thing to you," She told him confidently.

"Really?" She heard her brother ask in shock.

Dolley chuckled and shook her head. Maybe her brother really had found his match.

"I would have dropped you both. Freaks," Riley said as they approached the pair hand-in-hand.

They waited as the elevator lowered and stopped next to them.

"Get on," Ian demanded.

"Ian, it's not worth it," Ben told him.

"Do you imagine any one of your lives is more valuable to me than Shaw's?" He asked them heatedly. "We go on."

"Status quo," Her father muttered to Ben. "Keep the status quo."

The four of them sighed in resignation and stepped onto the elevator. A few minutes later they stopped.

"Now what?" Riley asked.

"This is where it all leads," Her father told him. Ben and Ian stepped off first and headed into the chamber in front of them.

"Let's go," Her brother called to them.

Riley helped her and Abigail step off the elevator and they all continued on into an empty room.

"What is this?" Riley asked.

"So where's the treasure?"

"Well?" Ian asked expectanly. Ben met her eyes in silent communication and then turned to do the same with their father. They all remained silent.

"This is it?" Riley asked. "We came all this way for a dead end?"

"Yes," Her brother answered finally.

She heard Ian laughing bitterly.

"There's gotta be more," Riley said hopefully. She glanced at her friend and grinned inwardly. He had just given her an idea.

"Riley, there's nothing more," Her brother told him.

"Another clue, or…"

"No, there are no more clues!" Her brother yelled, "That's it, okay? It's over! End of the road. The treasure's gone."

Dolley had to force herself to look disheartened because she was honestly impressed by her brother's acting skills. She patted Riley on the shoulder consolingly.

"He's right. It was probably moved. Hidden elsewhere," She told him with a glance at her dad and her brother.

"You're not playing games with me, are you? Hmm?" Ian asked them suspiciously. "One of you knows where it is."

"No," Ben said.

"Okay, go." Ian told his man as they both rushed out of the chamber. Everyone cried out in protest and ran after them.

"Don't do this," Her brother told him.

"You can't just leave us here," Abigail said.

"Yes, I can. Unless someone tells me the next clue," Ian threatened.

"There isn't another clue," Ben told him as they all edged toward the elevator. Out of no where Dolley felt Ian grab her vest and pull her toward him. Before she could do anything else he pulled her to him and pressed his gun against her temple. Her eyes widened. This was not how she saw this going.

Riley's eyes widened and he began to speak slowly, "Ian, why don't you come back down here and we can talk this through together?"

Ian tightened his grip on her neck and she winced, "Don't speak again."

"Okay," Riley agreed urgently.

"The clue. Where's the treasure?" He asked. She gulped and prayed their plan worked or she was pretty much dead. "Ben?"

She heard him cock the gun and jumped.

"The lantern," Patrick said quickly.

Ben closed his eyes and sighed, "Dad…"

"The status quo has changed, son." Patrick told him.

Ben nodded reluctantly and gave Dolley a reassuring glance.

"It's part of freemason teachings," Patrick said. "In King Solomon's temple there was a winding staircase. It signified the journey that had to be made to find the light of truth. The lantern is the clue."

"And what does it mean?" Ian asked as his grip on Dolley's neck loosened.

"Boston," She choked out. "It means Boston."

"The Old North Church in Boston," Ben clarified in resignation.

"It's where Thomas Newton hung a lantern in the steeple to signal Paul Revere that the British were coming. One if by land, two if by sea. One lantern. Under the winding stair case of the steeple, that's where we have to look," Patrick told him.

"Thank you," Ian said as he shoved Dolley toward the group. She stumbled forward and fell at Ben and Patrick's feet. Riley rushed forward and helped her up.

"Hey, you have to take us with you," Patrick said.

"Why? So you can escape in Boston?" Ian asked. "Besides, with you out of the picture there's less baggage to carry."

"What if we lied?" Patrick asked.

"Did you?" Ian asked as he aimed his gun at Dolley and Riley.

"What if there's another clue?" Ben asked.

Ian lowered his gun, "Then I'll know right where to find you. See you, Ben."

The elevator began to ascend and they all watched it go.

"No!" Ben yelled after him.

"There's no other way out," Riley said with a gulp.

They all let out similar protests.

"Are you okay?" Ben asked Dolley once Ian was out of sight.

"I'm fine…a little shocked, but I'm sure I'll get over it," She said as she rubbed the spot the gun had been pressed against.

"We're all gonna die," Riley said finally. Dolley rolled her eyes at her friend.

"Don't be overdramatic," She told him.

"Overdramatic? I think I'm being the appropriate amount of dramatic," He told her.

"It's gonna be okay, Riley. I'm sorry I yelled at you," Ben said as he headed back into the empty chamber.

"It's okay, kiddo," Patrick told him just before he gave Dolley a quick hug. Dolley followed her father and brother back into the room.

"Okay, Gates family, what's going on? The British came by sea. It was two lanterns, not one," Abigail asked them.

"Ian needed another clue, so we gave it to him," Dolley grinned.

"It was a fake. It was a fake clue," Riley said in shock.

Dolley heard Ben mutter something about the all-seeing eye and made her way toward him.

"That means…by the time Ian figures it out and comes back here we'll still be trapped, and he'll shoot us then," Riley realized slowly. "Either way, we're gonna die."

"Nobody's gonna die," Dolley said as she observed her brother's actions. He was onto something.

"There's another way out," Ben told him.

"Where?" Riley asked eagerly.

"Through the treasure room," Ben said as he pressed something. He handed Riley his torch and Patrick handed his to Abigail and together the Gates family pushed the wall in front of them to the side. Ben and Patrick grabbed their torches and then made their way into another room.

That was still empty. Dolley looked around in shock, "It can't be."

"Looks like somebody got here first," Riley said as he stepped up behind Dolley.

"I'm sorry, Ben," Abigail said.

"It's gone," Her brother stated sadly.

Dolley shook her head and sat down on her knees.

"Listen…" Her father began.

"It may have even been gone before Charles Carroll told the story to Thomas Gates," Ben said.

"It doesn't matter," Patrick told him.

"I know. Cause you were right," Ben admitted.

"Don't say that," Dolley told him as she stood up once again.

"No, I wasn't right," Patrick said. "This room is real, Ben. And that means the treasure is real. We're in the company of some of the most brilliant minds in history because you found what they left behind for us to find and understood the meaning of it. You did it, Ben. For all of us."

Dolley smiled at her father and made her way toward him. This was the father she remembered and the father she missed. He placed an arm around his daughter's shoulders and she gave him a side hug.

"Think about it, Ben. Those stories granddad used to tell us…you proved him right! All of his work was not in vain and better yet you've proved that none of us are crazy!" Dolley told him with a smile.

"I've never been so happy to be proven wrong," Patrick told his son.

"I just…really thought I was gonna find the treasure," He told them. For the first time her brother's voice sounded empty.

"Okay," Patrick said. "Then we just keep looking for it."

"Hell yeah," Dolley said excitedly.

"I'm in," Abigail told them all with a smile.

"Okay," Ben said hopefully.

"Not to be Johnny Rain Cloud here, but that's not gonna happen," Riley told them all. "Because as far as I can see we're still trapped down here. Now where is this other way out?"

"Well, that's it. It doesn't make any sense," Ben said thoughtfully.

Dolley shook her head, "They wouldn't have put this so far underground without putting in an emergency exit in case of cave ins or at least a ventilation system for air."

"Right," Ben agreed as he shook his head as well.

They all began looking around for a hidden door and secret passageway.

Dolley made her way around the room, but came back to the group when she heard her brother speak.

"Could it really be that simple? "The secret lie with Charlotte.""

They all watched as Ben slipped the pipe into a slot in the wall and then stuck the stem in another place just below it. He then turned both things until they locked into place and pressed them into the wall. A section of the wall suddenly moved and they were all hit with a blast of air. They quickly walked through the now open wall and were greeted with the very treasure they thought had been moved.

They all froze to stare in wonder for a few moments before going their separate ways. She gasped as she found a series of papers laid out on a table. She smiled brightly. She glanced through them carefully and they appeared to be drawings of the Coliseum in Rome. She squinted at a few differences between the way it had been drawn and the way it had been built, and then flipped to the next paper which was a drawing of how the bottom portion of the Coliseum was laid out. She noticed a few things that seemed to be scratched out and then let out another gasp.

"They're…blueprints."

They seemed to be the original designs for the ancient structure. She shook her head and reluctantly moved on when light filled the room. Ben had lit something and they all made their way to him. Dolley squealed from her spot next to Riley as they could see the full size of the room.

"Riley are you crying?" Abigail asked.

Dolley looked over at her friend and chuckled.

"Look, stairs," Riley said in tear filled awe.

Dolley let out a laugh and hugged him.

* * *

Dolley sighed happily as she finally walked back through the door of her apartment. Riley was right behind her. She sighed happily and crashed on her couch. She was back in DC. They had spent a few more hours in New York dealing with the FBI and then Ben had flown to Boston with Sudusky while the rest of them went home.

"It's so good to be HOME!" She yelled as she slipped off her shoes. "I'm ready to sleep for like a month."

"I don't think I can drive home…I'm that tired," Riley told her with a groan.

She shrugged, "Then don't drive home."

"You mean sleep here?"

"Well, yeah, I mean it's not like we haven't slept in the same bed before," She reminded him.

"But that was different."

"How was that different?" She asked curiously.

He shook his head with wide eyes, "It just was, okay?"

She rolled her eyes, "Ri, we are both adults. I think we can handle sleeping in the same bed with out it becoming too complicated."

She stood up off the couch and grabbed his hand, "Come on."

She dragged him back toward her bedroom.

"You get the left side. I can't sleep unless I'm on the right side," She told him as she collapsed onto her bed.

He shook his head and smiled at her before laying down on the left side. The last time they had shared a bed he had come away from it with a crush on her. There was no telling what would happen this time. He settled himself on the left side of her bed, and pretty soon they both drifted off to sleep.

* * *

Dolley yawned and opened her eyes. She was staring at a grey shirt. A grey shirt that was being worn by Riley Poole. She blinked a few times before she realized that her head was resting on his chest and that his arms were encircling her. She smiled softly at how comfortable she was and snuggled further into him. She'd never really thought about how comfortable she was around Riley, but now that she did she seemed to touch him in some way a lot. Whether she smacked him upside the head, grabbed his hand, or gave him a hug. The funny thing was that she wasn't like that with anyone else. She was normally very reserved about contact that was that personal.

But she had never been like that Riley. From the minute they met she was comfortable enough to at least punch his shoulder playfully. He knew nearly everything there was to know about her as well. She knew everything about him. She actually missed the days of sharing an apartment with him in college. He was fun to have around on dateless Friday and Saturday nights. She couldn't count the number of movie marathons they had. Most of them ended up with them both falling asleep on the couch.

And in that moment she promised herself that she would spend more time with Riley. If only to make up for the lack of time she'd spent with him since she'd gotten her job at the Smithsonian.

* * *

_Theres one more chapter for the first movie...I'm still debating whether or not to continue on to the next one. I would really like to, but I'm not sure if anyone would read it, lol._

_Enjoy!_

_angellwings_


	9. Chapter 9

**Saving Washington's Portrait**

**Chapter Nine**

"_Two messengers covered with dust come to bid me fly, but I wait for him."-Dolley Madison_

About three months after Ian Howe's arrest she and Riley pulled to a jerky stop in front of Ben and Abigail's new home.

"When are you going to learn how to drive this thing?" She asked as she motioned to the Ferrari she was sitting in.

"Hey! I can drive it," Riley cried out defensively.

She shook her head, "Whatever you say, buddy."

"Have you seen this place yet?"

"Just in an etching," She told him.

Riley raised an eyebrow at her, "An etching? That's like an ancient picture, correct?"

She smiled at him, "Correct."

"You know he could've gotten a house much bigger than this one," Riley said as he pulled his keys out of the ignition and stared at the house.

"He could've, but he wanted this one," She said with a fond smile at the estate.

"I'm guessing there's a story behind this house," He said in a curious tone.

She smiled, "A Thomas Gates story, yes. I'll give Ben the pleasure of telling you."

"No offense I'd rather hear your version. You're not as long winded," Riley smirked.

She laughed, "Ben would kill me if he didn't get the pleasure of telling you the story. Now let's head inside so we can take this tour my brother was talking about."

She reached for her door to open it when Riley stopped her.

He cleared his throat, "That Gabe guy from the Smithsonian, are you and he-"

"No, we're not," She told him with a soft smile.

He nodded and smiled brightly, "Good to know. Now, let's get inside."

* * *

"Yeah, you got it, Chief. Thank you. Bye," Riley said into his phone once the tour was over and Ben and Abigail were walking them both toward his car. "They want us in Cairo next week for the opening of the exhibit. They're sending a private jet."

"That's fun," Abigail said as she and Ben walked hand in hand.

"Yeah, big whoop. We could've had a whole fleet of private jets," Riley said as he quickly stepped around the Ferrari and held the passenger side door open for Dolley. "Ten percent, Ben. They offered you ten percent and you turned it down."

Dolley rolled her eyes with a grin. She hugged her brother quickly and said a good bye to Abigail before stepping into the passenger side door.

"Riley, we've been over this. It was too much I couldn't accept it," Ben clarified with amusement written across his face.

Riley walked around to the driver's side door and held his finger up for Ben to see, "I still have this splinter that's been festering for three months from an old piece of wood."

"Okay, I'll tell you what. Next time we find a treasure that redefines history for all mankind you make the call on the finder's fee," Ben told him with a smirk. Dolley let out a soft chuckle at the look on Riley's face.

"That's not as funny," Riley said. "What do you care? You got the girl."

"It's true," Abigail and Ben said as they shared a peck on the lips.

"Rub it in. Enjoy your spoils," He said as he hopped over the driver's side door and into the car. "While I sit on one percent. One stinkin' percent. Half of one percent, actually."

Dolley cleared her throat, "A third."

Riley huffed, "Right, a THIRD of one percent. Even better. Unbelievable."

Ben leaned over the passenger side where Dolley was sitting. He gave his sister a quick peck on the forehead, "I'm sorry for your suffering, Riley."

"For the record, Ben, I like the house," Riley told him.

"You know I chose this estate because in 1812 Charles Carroll met—"

"Yeah, someone who did something in history and had fun. Great. Wonderful," Riley said with a wink at Dolley. He slipped on his sunglasses and started the engine. "You could've had a bigger house."

Dolley laughed loudly when Riley had trouble pulling away, "Do you want me to drive?"

"Shut up," He muttered sarcastically.

* * *

_And that's all for the first movie. I'm still working out the details for what Dolley will do in the second one. I'll add the second one to this story instead of starting a new one. But until I do I'm going to label this story as "Complete". So if you're a fan be on the look out for an update to this story, and not on the look out for a new one. _

_The second part of this fic won't have Dolley Madison quotes. Simply because there are no more. All of Dolley's quotes come from ONE letter to her sister, so I'm officially out of them after this chapter. If you guys have ideas for another first lady you'd like me to quote let me know! I might use more than one first lady for Dolley's adventures in "Book of Secrets". _

_Hope you guys enjoyed this one!_

_angellwings_


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